What did Jesus say about the Sabbath?
Jesus taught that the Sabbath day was made for our benefit (see Mark 2:27). The purpose of the Sabbath is to give us a certain day of the week on which to direct our thoughts and actions toward God. It is not a day merely to rest from work. It is a sacred day to be spent in worship and reverence.
Jesus teaches that the Sabbath points to him, the one Israel's prophets promised would come to mercifully restore the rhythm of all creation. When followers of Jesus observe the Sabbath, we live as if this restoration has already taken place.
The full text of the commandment reads: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God.
When religious leaders accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath because his disciples plucked some grain and ate it as they walked through a field, he said: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28).
We should observe the seventh day of the week (Saturday), from even to even, as the Sabbath of the Lord our God. Evening is at sunset when day ends and another day begins. No other day has ever been sanctified as the day of rest. The Sabbath Day begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday.
It doesn't matter whether you go to corporate worship on Saturday or on Sunday, because that's not what really matters. What really matters is that you find your rest in Christ! And you can (and should) do that every day of the week! So, you are both right (and wrong).
On March 7, 321, however, Roman Emperor Constantine I issued a civil decree making Sunday a day of rest from labor, stating: All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the venerable day of the sun.
There appear to be three things that the Lord would require of us in keeping His day holy (see D&C 59:9–13): To keep ourselves unspotted from the world. To go to the house of prayer and partake of the sacrament. To rest from our labors.
While Jesus himself did not make a final break with the Sabbath, he so weakened it in the minds of his followers that they found it natural to move from worshipping on the Sabbath—a day of restrictions —to Sunday, a day associated with the joyous freedom brought about by the resurrection of Jesus.
The Jewish Sabbath (from Hebrew shavat, “to rest”) is observed throughout the year on the seventh day of the week—Saturday. According to biblical tradition, it commemorates the original seventh day on which God rested after completing the creation.
Do we need to keep the Sabbath?
The Lord has given the Sabbath day for our benefit and has commanded us to keep it holy. Observing the Sabbath shows our commitment to honor and worship God and keep our covenants. It will bring us closer to the Lord and to our family.
[11] And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? [12] How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
In New Testament times the Sabbath day was called the “Lord's day” (Rev. 1:10) and was observed on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7), honoring the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the tomb.
The Lord's Day in Christianity is generally Sunday, the principal day of communal worship. It is observed by most Christians as the weekly memorial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is said in the canonical Gospels to have been witnessed alive from the dead early on the first day of the week.
As one of His Ten Commandments, God commanded that we keep the Sabbath day holy (see Exodus 20:8–11). One of the ways we keep this commandment is to meet together on Sundays to worship God and give Him thanks.
Pagan correspondence
In Roman culture, Sunday was the day of the Sun god. In pagan theology, the Sun was the source of life, giving warmth and illumination to mankind. It was the center of a popular cult among Romans, who would stand at dawn to catch the first rays of sunshine as they prayed.
Saturday, or the seventh day in the weekly cycle, is the only day in all of scripture designated using the term Sabbath. The seventh day of the week is recognized as Sabbath in many languages, calendars, and doctrines, including those of Catholic, Lutheran, and Orthodox churches.
Sabbath (as the verb שָׁבַת֙ shabbat) is first mentioned in the Genesis creation narrative, where the seventh day is set aside as a day of rest (in Hebrew, shabbat) and made holy by God (Genesis 2:2–3).
Seventh-day Adventists differ in only four areas of beliefs from the mainstream Trinitarian Christian denominations. These are the Sabbath day, the doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary, the status of the writings of Ellen White, and their doctrine of the second coming and millennium.
According to the Bible, breaking the Sabbath or not observing the day of the Lord was an offence punishable by death (Exodus Ch. 31 v15). To many Christians, observing the Sabbath has a two-fold meaning, comprising not working on a Sunday and attending Church.
Can you shower on the Sabbath?
Question: What are the guidelines regarding bathing and showering on Shabbos? It is also forbidden to wash, even a small part of the body such as one's hands or face, with hot32 water that was heated up on Shabbos in violation of bishul33.
When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, one of His commandments was to “remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).
Commandment #4: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8) This is probably the most misinterpreted of the Ten Commandments. In essence, God was telling His people that they were to keep this day, the Sabbath, as holy to Him.
Sunday was another work day in the Roman Empire. On March 7, 321, however, Roman Emperor Constantine I issued a civil decree making Sunday a day of rest from labor, stating: All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the venerable day of the sun.
According to some sources, Christians held corporate worship on Sunday in the 1st century. (First Apology, chapter 67), and by 361 AD it had become a mandated weekly occurrence. Before the Early Middle Ages, the Lord's Day became associated with Sabbatarian (rest) practices legislated by Church Councils.
One reason we worship on Sunday is to celebrate week-in and week-out the resurrection of Jesus, the anointed One of God, the Son, Lord, Savior, Redeemer. Every Sunday is, in some way, a "little Easter," celebrating the Resurrection.